Releasable securement means for sealing web

ABSTRACT

Magnetic or hook-and-loop tape system for releasably securing the sealing web to the apertured header wall in a &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;TRAV-LVENT&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; type of ventilating system.

United States Patent Overmyer et al.

RELEASABLE SECUREMENT MEANS FOR SEALING WEB Inventors: Robert C. Overmyer, Indianapolis; Adolph J. Nordman, Wabash, both of Ind.

Assignee: Hawley Manufacturing Corporation,

Indianapolis, Ind.

Filed: Sept. 17, 1971 Appl. No.: 181,516

US. Cl ..98/115 VM Int. Cl. ..F23j 11/02 Field of Search ..98/1l5 VM [451 Dec. 12,1972

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,923,227 2/1960 Hawley ..98/l l5 VM 3,478,668 [1969 Scheel et a ..98/1 15 VM 3,602,128 8/1971 Lindkvist "98/115 VM Primary Examiner-Edward J. Michael Attorney-Harold B. Hood [57] ABSTRACT Magnetic or hook-and-loop tape system for releasably securing the sealing web to the apertured header wall in a TRAV-L-VENT type of ventilating system.

6 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures RELEASABLE SECUREMENT MEANS FOR SEALING WEB The US. Pat. to Hawley, No. 2,923,227issued Feb. 2, I960 discloses a traveling aspirator system in which a continuous web closes an apertured wall of an elongated continuously evacuated header, except in the region of a carriage which is mounted on the header to travel therealong and which is formed to provide a chamber enveloping a short section of the web and carrying means engageable with the web to hold the enveloped section thereof out of sealing relation with the apertured header wall. Thus, the carriage chamber is always in open communication with the interior of the evacuated header, even during travel of the carriage along the header, while all portions of the header except that portion with which the carriage chamber is currently in registry, are effectively sealed from the atmosphere. Through suitable means, an aspirator hood or its equivalent is connected to the interior of the carriage chamber.

One form of the Hawley system, illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 of the said patent, includes a header whose ported wall is vertical, instead of horizontal, so that the sealing web stands vertically edgewise. That form is so designed in order to facilitate application of the basic concept of the Hawley system to an arrangement in which the generally-horizontally extending path of the carriage must include one or more curves. Obviously, it is difficult to manage an elongated web of conventional construction in a system and arrangement such as that illustrated in FIGS. to 8 of the said Hawleypatent.

In practical use, it is found that, in installations of the character generally illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 of the said US. Pat. No. 2,923,227, while such a system performs satisfactorily whenever the header is under continuous evacuation, difficulties arise during shutdown periods, and particularly in regions wherein the .ported wall is on the inside of a curve in the header, in that the web tends to fall away from the header so that, when the system is to be putback into use, it is found to be necessary to initiate header evacuation and then manually reposition the web to cooperative association with the ported wall of the header throughout at least a part of its longitudinal extent.

The US Fat. to John R. Scheel and Adolph J. Nordman, Jr., No. 3,478,668 issued Nov. 18, 1969 discloses an effective solution to this problem. The present invention, however, is an improvement upon that solution in that it eliminates a multiplicity of moving parts which are subject to damage and to jamming and that it eliminates, as well, overhanging parts on the traveling carriage.

The primary object of the present invention, then, is to improve the meanswhereby the sealing relation between an apertured header wall and a closure web may be maintained, without interfering with the separation of a portion of said web within the carriage chamber as the carriage travels along the header.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved means for releasably securing a flexible web in sealing relation to an apertured wall, while providing for ready and automatic release and separation of a portion of said web which is currently within a carriage traveling along said wall.

Further objects of the invention will appear asthe description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, our invention may be embodied in the forms illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specific constructions illustrated and described so long as the scope of the appended claims is not violated.

.FIG. 1 is a transverse vertical section through a header, a sealing web and a cooperating carriage constructed in accordance with one fonn of the present invention, parts being broken away for clarity of illustration;

.FIG. 2 is a horizontal section, upon a somewhat enlarged scale, through the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a further enlarged fragmentary section illustrating a modified form of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view illustrating still another form of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary section similar to FIG. 2 but illustrating the form of invention shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but in which the apertured wall of the header is the header roof and the carriage runs on the roof of theheader;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 but in which the securing means is like that of FIGS. 4 and 5; and FIG. 8 is an exaggerated view suggesting the character of hook-and-loop tape securing means.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, it will be seen that we have illustrated a header indicated generally by the reference numeral 10. Such a header is usually mounted above head height upon support means suggested at l 1, the header extending longitudinally in a generally horizontal plane and, in many installations, including one or more curves in its extent as viewed from above. Such curves may be of varying radii and direction so that, in some installations, the header may be described as sinuous in contour. One or more evacuator conduits, as suggested at 12, may be connected with the interior of the header 10 and will lead to evacuator means such as a continuously-operating blower (not shown), a vacuum tank being included in the connection if desired. The means for maintaining evacuation of the header forms no part of the present invention and therefore is not illustrated or described in detail.

The header 10 may be of any cross sectional configuration but will preferably include a generally vertical, outer wall 13. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the header is provided with an upstanding rail 14 fonned to provide an inwardly facing surface 15, and with a depending rail 16 formed to provide an outwardly facing surface 17, all for a purpose to be explained.

Asshown, the wall 13 is formed to provide an inset portion 18 which is apertured, as shown. While the port means may constitute a continuous, longitudinal slot as illustrated in the I-Iawley US. Pat. No. 2,923,227, we

presentlyprefer the use of a series of slightly-separated ports or openings 19, as shown in FIG. 4 of the Scheel et al. ,U.S. Pat. No. 3,478,668, in order to provide improved support for the transversely median portion of the elongated flexible web 20 which is disposed, as shown, against the outer surface of the inset portion 18 of the wall 13. Of course, when the header 10 is evacuated, atmospheric pressure against. the outer surface of the web 20 will hold said web in sealing association with the port means of the wall 13 to prevent fluid flow therethrough.

A carriage indicated generally by the reference numeral 21 is formed to provide top, bottom, end and outer walls defining a chamber 22 which is open atits inner side. Journal mounted with-in the chamber 22, upon vertical axes, are inner rolls 23 and 24 located near the opposite ends of the carriage and so constructed and arranged as to project peripherally through the open inner side of the carriage, and outer rolls 25 and 26, likewise disposed on vertical axes near the opposite ends of the carriage but adjacent the outer wall thereof, all for a purpose to be explained.

The bottom wall of the carriage is ported and is provided with a reducing connection 27 shaped at its lower end for acceptance of a fitting 28 at the proximal end of a flexible conduit 29 which may carry at its distal end a hood (not shown) such as that illustrated in the abovementioned Hawley patent, or any other kind of aspirator fixture.

As has been pointed out above, the carriage 21 is adapted to be supported from the header for longitudinal travel therealong. As shown, bracket means comprising two identical straps 30 may be adjustably secured to the top wall of the carriage.

Near its distal end, each strap 30 carries an axle 35 disposed upon an axis which is inclined between the horizontal and the vertical; and a roller 36 is supported from each such axle for rotation in an inclined plane. The straps 30 are so proportioned and designed as to extend significantly beyond the open side of the carriage so that, when the carriage is arranged with its open side adjacent the wall 13 of the header 10, the rollers 36 will bear against the inwardly facing surface of the rail 14 and against the top wall of the header 21 to support the carriage from the header. Preferably, the peripheral surfaces of the rollers 36 are rounded or radiused as indicated at 37 so that, as the carriage moves along the length of the header, the rollers 36 will have line contacts with the surface 15 and with the top 38 of the header 10.

Axles 39 depend from the bottom wall of the carriage 21, near the opposite ends thereof, and rollers 40 are supported from said axles to rotate in a substantially horizontal plane, said rollers bearing against the outwardly facing surface 17 of the rail 16. It will be obvious that, by adjustment of the straps 30, the carriage 21 may be positioned, relative to the header wall 13, so that the axes of the rolls 23 and 24 are parallel with said wall 13.

As is most clearly to be seen in FIG. 2, the web is threaded around the roll 23 away from the header and thus into the chamber 22, thence around the roll 25, around the roll 26 and around the roll 24 back into contact with the offset portion 18 of the header wall 13. Within the chamber 22, therefore, there is enveloped a short section of the web 20, comprising the reach 41 between the rolls 23 and 25, a reach 42 between the rolls and 26 and a reach 43 between the rolls 26 and 24, which is affirmatively held in spaced relation to, and therefore out of sealing contact with, the apertured wall of the header, the enumerated rolls constituting guide means for the enveloped section of the web. In this manner, the chamber 22 is maintained always in open communication with the evacuated interior of the header 10.

In installations of the character here under consideration, the header 10 is usually made from ferrous metal. According to one form of the present invention, each lateral edge of the web 20 is provided with a series of small magnets 45 embedded in that surface of the web which is presented toward the wall 13. Thus, as the carriage 21 moves downwardly as viewed in FIG. 2, the tendency of the web to follow in a clockwise direction about the surface of the roller 23 will lift the adjacent end 46 of a magnet at each edge of the web to pry or peel that magnet away from its magnetic securement to the wall 13. Because of the prying or peeling character of the force applied to the magnet as the web is drawn around the roller 23, the magnitude of the force required to separate the magnet from the wall 13 is much less than it would be if an effort were made to lift the magnet bodily rectilinearly away from the wall.

If desired, the magnets of the two series may be staggered so that the initiation of separation will occur only upon one magnet at a time.

At approximately the same time, another magnet 45, passing about the roller 24, will be returned to securement to the wall 13 at the other end of the carriage 21.

Thus, all portions of the web 20 outside the chamber 22 will always be securely held in sealing relation to the apertured wall of the header 10; but, as the carriage 21 travels in either direction, that portion of the web which is just entering the chamber 22 will be automatically separated from the wall 13, while that portion of the web which isjust leaving the chamber 22 will be automatically returned to sealing securement to the wall.

As is suggested in FIG. 3, if the wall 13 is formed from nonferrous material, a mating series of magnets 47 can be embedded in the surface of the wall at each lateral edge of the apertured region to mate with the magnets 45 on the web.

Obviously, in the above-described embodiments of our invention, the exposed surfaces of the magnets should be substantially flush with the mating wall and web surfaces in order to minimize leakage. Quite obviously, the surfaces of the rollers 25 and 26 will preferably be nonmagnetic.

In place of the series of separate magnets, we may use, at each edge eof the web 20, a continuous strip of magnetic tape, one brand of which is available from Minnesota Mining & Machine Company, 3M Center, St. Paul, Minn. 5510l and is disclosed in US. Pat. No. 2,999,275 and US. Pat. No. Re 24,906. Such strip material can be secured to the face of the web 20 by means of a suitable adhesive or by stapling.

As an alternative securement means, and in many instances preferably, we may use hook-and-loop tape type fasteners, with a continuous strip adjacent each lateral edge of the apertured region of the wall 13 and continuous mating strips substantially at the lateral edges of the web.

Such fastening material consists of a pair of mating strips, whose nature is suggested, with some exaggeration, in FIG. 8. One of those strips 50 is a piece of fabric one surface of which is covered with a multiplicity of soft, tiny loops 51, while the mating strip 52 is a piece of fabric one surface of which is covered with a multiplicity of stifi little hooks 53 which retentively interengage with said loops when the two materials are pressed together. A characteristic of those materials is that, when so pressed together, they strongly resist separation by forces applied in the direction parallel to the interface or in a direction perpendicular to the interface, but may readily be separated by peeling forces. Such materials are available on the open market from VELCRO Corp., with offices at 681 Fifth Avenue, New York City in the United States and from Canadian Velcro, Ltd., with offices at 1 14 East Drive, Bramalea, Ontario in Canada, and are known as VEL- CRO brand hook and loop tape fasteners. The specific construction and composition of such mating strip fasteners is disclosed in US. Pat. Nos. 2,717,437; 3,000,384; 3,009,235; 3,076,244; 3,130,111; 3,147,528; 3,154,837; 3,192,589; 3,387,345 and perhaps others.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, continuous strips of such material are applied to the wall 13 adjacent the lateral edges of the apertured region of said wall, and mating strips are applied to the web 20 to register with the wall-carried strips. Preferably, but not necessarily, the loop-type strips 50 will be carried by the wall and the hook-type strips 52 will be carried by the web. It will be apparent that, as the carriage 21 moves downwardly, as viewed in FIG. 5, the action of the roller 23 will peel. the strip 52 away from the strip 50, while the action of the roller 24 will press the strip 52 against the strip 50, thus resecuring the web to the wall 13 effectively to seal the aperturedwall region outside the chamber 22.

This form of the invention is, in many environments, even better than those forms illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3, in that the application of the securing means to the parts of the organization is simple, quick and easy, the risk of accidental dislodgment of individual magnets is obviated and the character of the continuous strips is such as to overcome leakage almost completely.

While the discussion thus far has been directed primarily toward structures in which the apertured wall of the header is a vertical wall, it will be apparent that the invention is applicable, as well, to systems in which the apertured wall is the roof of the header, as in the Hawley US. Pat. No. 2,923,227. Particularly, if it should be desirable to carry superatmospheric pressure in the header, even part of the time, it would be necessary to secure the web to the apertured wall.

Such an arrangement is suggested in FIG. 6, using magnets 60 on the web for cooperation with the ferrous metal roof of the header; and in FIG. 7, using VEL- CRO strips 65 and 66.

We claim:

1. In combination, an elongated header having one transversely planar, apertured wall, a flexible web sub stantially coextensive with said wall and proportioned and designed to span the apertured region thereof, a carriage mounted to travel longitudinally upon said header and to span said apertured region and said web, means carried at the lateral regions of said web and cooperative with said wall for releasably securing said web to said wall to close said apertured region, said carriage being formed to define a chamber, and guide means within said chamber, a first portion of said guide means being located adjacent one end of said chamber and closely adjacent said wall, a second portion of said guide means being located adjacent the other end of said chamber and closely ad acent said wall, and an intermediate portion of said guide means being located between said first and second portions and remote from said wall, said web being trained, within said chamber, about said first portion, thence about said intermediate portion and thence about said second portion whereby, as said carriage travels along said header, an advancing portion of said web within said chamber will be released and moved away from said wall for a period and then will be pressed back into secured relation thereto.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which the means for releasably securing said web to said wall is magnetic.

3. The combinationof claim 1 in which said apertured wall of said header is made of ferrous metal and the means carried at the lateral regions of said web is magnetic and positioned to contact said ferrous wall.

4. The combination of claim 1 in which said apertured wall of said header is made of ferrous metal and the means carried at the lateral regions of said web is a series of magnets embedded in said web adjacent each lateral edge thereof.

5. The combination of claim 1 in which said apertured wall of said header is provided with a series of magnetic pieces adjacent each lateral edge of said apertured region and the means carried at each lateral edge of the web is a series of magnetic pieces arranged for mating with the pieces of the series on the wall.

6. The combination of claim 1 in which the means for releasably securing said web to said wall comprises, adjacent each lateral edge of said apertured region, a continuous strip of one material and, adjacent each lateral edge of said web, a continuous mating strip of another material, one of said materials presenting toward the other a multiplicity of tiny, soft loops and the other of said materials presenting toward said one material a multiplicity of stiff little hooks which interengage retentively with said loops when the two materials are pressed together. 

1. In combination, an elongated header having one transversely planar, apertured wall, a flexible web substantially coextensive with said wall and proportioned and designed to span the apertured region thereof, a carriage mounted to travel longitudinally upon said header and to span said apertured region and said web, means carried at the lateral regions of said web and cooperative with said wall for releasably securing said web to said wall to close said apertured region, said carriage being formed to define a chamber, and guide means within said chamber, a first portion of said guide means being located adjacent one end of said chamber and closely adjacent said wall, a second portion of said guide means being located adjacent the other end of said chamber and closely adjacent said wall, and an intermediate portion of said guide means being located between said first and second portions and remote from said wall, said web being trained, within said chamber, about said first portion, thence about said intermediate portion and thence about said second portion whereby, as said carriage travels along said header, an advancing portion of said web within said chamber will be released and moved away from said wall for a period and then will be pressed back into secured relation thereto.
 2. The combination of claim 1 in which the means for releasably securing said web to said wall is magnetic.
 3. The combination of claim 1 in which said apertured wall of said header is made of ferrous metal and the means carried at the lateral regions of said web is magnetic and positioned to contact said ferrous wall.
 4. The combination of claim 1 in which said apertured wall of said header is made of ferrous metal and the means carried at the lateral regions of said web is a series of magnets embedded in said web adjacent each lateral edge thereof.
 5. The combination of claim 1 in which said apertured wall of said header is provided with a series of magnetic pieces adjacent each lateral edge of said apertured region and the means carried at each lateral edge of the web is a series of magnetic pieces arranged for mating with the pieces of the series on the wall.
 6. The combination of claim 1 in which the means for releasably securing said web to said wall comprises, adjacent each lateral edge of said apertured region, a continuous strip of one material and, adjacent each lateral edge of said web, a continuous mating strip of another material, one of said materials presenting toward the other a multiplicity of tiny, soft loops and the other of said materials presenting toward said one material a multiplicity of stiff little hooks which interengage retentively with said loops when the two materials are pressed together. 